Tony Chan loses 'Battle of Wills'
(02-02 10:34)
The High Court today threw out a fung shui master's claim for the estimated HK$100 billion fortune of late property tycoon Nina Wang after a sensational court battle.
Judge Johnson Lam said the will in the possession of Tony Chan was a fake, and ruled in favour of a rival claim by a charity now run by Wang's siblings.
"The court finds that the 2006 will was not signed by Nina,'' the judge wrote in his ruling on the case known as the "Battle of the Wills'' that has gripped the tycoon-obsessed city.
Wang, who at one stage was Asia's richest woman, died of cancer in April 2007 at the age of 69, triggering a bitter feud between Chan and the charity both claiming they were entitled to her massive fortune.
The judge ruled in favour of Wang's Chinachem Charitable Foundation, saying a 2002 will held by her siblings "truly reflected the long-held intention on the part of Nina to leave her estate to charity.''
The case featured a heady mix of sex, family secrets and Wang's fascination with fung shui, an ancient Chinese system that claims to harness natural energies and is widely used by Hong Kong residents.
Wang used fung shui in a fruitless bid to find her husband Teddy, who was kidnapped in 1990 but whose body has never been found.
The court case filled the front pages of Hong Kong's media for weeks after it first opened in May last year.
The charity's lawyers accused Chan of being a charlatan who duped the eccentric billionaire, arguing Wang did not have the mental capacity to execute the alleged will because of her health problems.
Despite her enormous wealth, Wang lived frugally and was rarely seen in public.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS |
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